Claims that the vote to oust former Dundee MP Gordon Wilson from the board of the city’s Citizens Advice Bureau was incompetent have been rejected by a director.
The suggestion of malpractice has circulated since the body’s annual meeting last week, when Mr Wilson came under fire for his well-publicised opposition to same-sex marriage.
In particular, sources have alleged that some voters were not entitled to have a say as they had only joined CAB the previous day and their membership had not been approved by the board, as required by the organisation’s articles of association.
However, Dundee CAB director Mary Kinninmonth said the date of joining has traditionally had no bearing on voting rights.
She said: ”It has not been the practice to have a board of trustee directors meeting to approve membership prior to the AGM.
”Indeed, in the past it has been the practice for the chair to extend an invite to anyone in attendance at the AGM to apply for membership prior to the meeting starting.
”There is provision within the memorandum and articles for membership to be refused, but this has never been utilised.”
Ms Kinninmonth said she was not aware of any move to investigate the vote but added, ”Obviously we can let that be scrutinised.”
She stressed the group’s work has not been affected by the row, which also led chairman Iain Luke to resign.
As The Courier reported (link), Mr Luke has also resigned from the Labour Party over what he sees as political motivation for the move against Mr Wilson.
Ms Kinninmonth said board member Tanjeel Maleque has been named interim chairman and a permanent replacement will be named in due course.
She said: ”The board of trustee directors met after the meeting but because not all of them were able to attend it was decided to make an interim appointment.
”It’s sad that the tremendous achievements and work of Dundee CAB have been overshadowed by something that calls into question our commitment to equality. The work of the bureau remains unaffected.”